The present invention relates to an IC card connector for connecting an IC card which is used as an external memory medium for electronic devices such as a personal computer and the like, wherein a plurality of IC cards in different specifications may be accommodated with the same connector.
A memory medium, a so-called IC card, which is a card type memory device having a built-in semiconductor memory, is widely used as an external memory device for electronic devices such as a computer main unit, video camera apparatus, and a portable information terminal device. Being very small in comparison with conventional memory media but having a large memory, this IC card is a convenient memory medium for transferring data from a digital camera and portable information terminal device to the computer main unit, for printing by transferring data directly to a printer or, conversely, for transferring data from the computer to these electronic devices.
There are a plurality of kinds of IC cards with different sizes and shapes which require individual connectors, and the present applicants have proposed a complex connector which can accommodate a plurality of kinds of IC cards in Japanese Laid Open Patent Publication No. 2003-100369 (“JP '369”).
This IC card connector is shown in FIG. 8 and FIG. 9. The IC card connector shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 is composed of a thin box type connector housing 1, in the front of which the first insertion slot 2 and the second insertion slot 3 are disposed in top and bottom levels communicating in a flat reverse T shape, and inside these first and second insertion slot 2, 3, contacts are disposed for first, second, third and fourth IC cards, 27, 28, 31 and 33. Pin terminals connect from these contact to an external substrate.
FIG. 10 through FIG. 13 shows the IC card connector of JP '369 in which corresponding IC cards are inserted. FIG. 10 and FIG. 11 are front views of the IC card connector, in which the first IC card 27 and the second IC card 28 are inserted to the first insertion slot 2. In this case, both cards use the contact 6, which is located toward the middle of the depth axis in the first insertion slot 2 shown in FIG. 9. FIG. 12 shows a front view when the third IC card 31 is inserted to the first insertion slot 2, and, in this case, the contact 7 is used, which is placed further back than the contact 6 described above in the first insertion slot 2 shown in FIG. 9. FIG. 13 shows a front view when the fourth IC card 33 is inserted to the second insertion slot 3, and, in this case, the contact 8 is used, which is placed in the second insertion slot 3 shown in FIG. 9.
Here, the insertion space where the first IC card 27 or the second IC card 28 are inserted shown in FIG. 10 and FIG. 11 and the other insertion space where the third IC card 33 is inserted shown in FIG. 13 are totally independent each other, and practically separate insertion slots. In the IC card connector of JP '369, the first IC card 27 or the second IC card 28 shown in FIG. 10 and FIG. 11 and the third IC card 31 shown in FIG. 12 share the same insertion space, but, in this case, the back part of the space of the insertion slot is formed with the width of the third IC card 31 to be utilized to hold the third IC card 31 which has a narrower width than the first IC card 27, and therefore, it can be said that these are independent spaces for holding different cards.
The method for accommodating a plurality of IC cards in the conventional IC card connectors is, as in the IC card connector shown in JP '369, by making separate independent insertion slots or, in the case where one IC card and the other IC card with a narrower width share the same insertion entry point, by placing the holding mechanism for the latter narrower IC card in the back part of the insertion space for the former IC card (the contact is also placed toward the back). However, no IC card connector is proposed yet in which, at the front side of the insertion space of an IC card, the insertion space for another IC card that is narrower in width and lower in height and a contact part thereof are secured.